Ornamental device for christmas trees



Feb. 1, 1966 s. WAGNER 3,233,090

OR NAMENTAL DEVICE FOR CHRISTMAS TREES Filed Feb. 15, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 STANLEY WAGNER BY QW' QM H ATTORNEY-5'.

Feb. 1, 1966 s. WAGNER ORNAMENTAL DEVICE FOR CHRISTMAS TREES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

FIG. 4

Filed Feb. 15, 1963 INVENTOR I STANLEY WAGNER ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,233,090 ORNAMENTAL DEVICE FOR CHRiSTMAS TREES tanley Wagner, 351341 Toledo Terrace,

Hyattsville, Md. Filed Feb. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 258,877 4 Claims. (Cl. 24tl10.1)

This invention relates to decorative devices, and more particularly to a decorative and ornamental device for use with Christmas trees.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved decorative device for use with Christmas trees.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved decorative device for use with Christmas trees adapted to be easily and quickly attached to or removed from a tree.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved decorative device for use with Christmas trees, comprising a plurality of ornaments carried by a central rotatable support member detachably secured to the trunk portion of a tree.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved decorative device for use with Christmas trees, comprising a plurality of illuminatable ornaments detachably secured to a central rotatable support member carried by the tree.

A further object of the invention is to provide an im proved motorized decorative device for use with Christmas trees wherein a plurality of illuminatable ornaments having means associated therewith for detachable connection to an electrical source are constructed and arranged whereby they may be easily and quickly attached to or removed from a rotatable support member carried by the Christmas tree.

With these and other objects in view, which may be incident to my improvements, the invention consists in the parts and combinations to be hereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that the several necessary elements comprising my invention, may be varied in construction, proportions and arrangements, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

In order to make my invention more clearly understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting the improvements in their useful application to the particular construction which, for the purpose of explanation, have been made the subject of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a Christmas tree illustrating the decorative device of the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the decorative device, partly in section;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the arrangement of the electrical leads and terminals;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one type of ornament;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of another type of ornament; and

FIG. 7 is a view taken on line 7-7 0 KG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a Christmas tree 1 mounted in a conventional standard or tree supporting member 2, the tree having a decorative device 3 comprising a plurality of ornaments 4, 5 and 6 carried by a rotatable member 7 detach'ably secured to the trunk portion of the tree, as at 8. Each of the ornaments 4 and 6 may be in the form of a translucent plastic airplane 9 (FIG. 5) having a replica of Santa Claus 19, also formed from translucent material, seated therein. While, for purposes of illustra- "ice tion, the ornaments are shown alike, it will be understood that they may be of different designs, for example, in lieu of airplanes, reindeer may be employed or a combination of one airplane of the type shown and Santa Claus astride a reindeer may be substituted for the airplanes or the reindeer. In its broad aspect the present invention comprehends the use of ornaments usually associated with particular holidays or seasons of the year, for example, pumpkins at Thanksgiving, goblins and :lfC'lCS at Halloween, or other representations, as desire The central ornament 5, may be in the form of a house (FIG. 6) or other building, as shown, and a disc member 11 comprised of four translucent quadrants, i2, 13, 14 and 15 (FIG. 7) is secured to the trunk of the tree below the decorative device 3. The disc is constructed and arranged with respect to the tree so that the light rays 16 .(FIG. 1) emanating from a source of light within the ornament 5 pass through consecutive different colored quadrants when the tubular rotatable member 7 is rotated, as will be described more fully hereinafter. The disc may be formed from plastic or other suitable material, and as shown in PEG. 7, it is provided with a central opening 17 to permit passage of the upper branches of the tree therethrough when installing the disc in the operative position on the tree, in which position it is re tained by means of spring arms 18 designed for gripping engagement with the tree trunk 19. In the color arrangement shown, the disc quadrants 12, 13, 14 and 15 are blue, amber, red and green, respectively.

In connection with the function of the disc, it will be appreciated that the Christmas tree is provided with conventional decorations in the form of colored bulbs, orna merits, tinsel and the like. Accordingly, as the decorative device 3 is rotated the light rays 16 passing through the different colored segments of the disc are reflected from the conventional ornaments and produce iridescent effects not obtainable with stationary color screens.

Referring to FIG. 2, the illuminatable ornaments 4, 5, and 6 are detachably secured to a central rotatable support member 20, in the form of an electrical distributor block, supported on the uppermost tubular section 7 of an extensible shaft 22, the bottom tubular section 7' thereof being in driven engagement with the shaft 23 of an electric motor 24 mounted within a housing 25, having a metal bracket 26 secured to the top surface thereof, said bracket terminating in a bendable bifurcated portion 27 adapted to be bent around the trunk portion of the tree and frictionally support the motor housing and the associated components of the decorative device in the operative position on the tree. The purpose of the extensible arrangement of the shaft elements 7, 22, and 7' is to enable proper positioning of the device on a tree. In this connection it will be appreciated that under certain conditions of spacing of the tree branches the motor housing may not clear a branch when the decorative device 3 is at a desired height at the top of the tree. When this situation is encountered, the shaft sections 7, 22 and 7' may be adjusted to proper heights by loosening one or both of the setscrews 23 to permit the motor housing to clear the obstructing tree branch, and thereafter tightening the screws so that the shaft sections will be maintained in fixed, spaced relation.

An electrical cord 29 extending outwardly from the housing 25, has one end connected to the motor 24 and the opposite end of the cord is adapted to be connected to a source of current, such as the standard -120 v. household circuit. A pair of leads 30 are connected between the cord 2? and a pair of brushes 31 secured to the housing 25, said brushes being in contact with a pair of slip rings 32 secured to an insulating block 33 carried by the shaft section 7 As will be seen in FIG. 3, a pair of leads 34 are positioned within the tubular shafts 7, 7', one end of each lead being connected to the slip rings 32 and the opposite end of each lead being connected to a slip ring 35 secured to an insulating block 33 carried by the upper tubular shaft 7.

The lower tubular shaft 7' is provided with a pin 37 adapted to be inserted in a bifurcated slot 3% formed in the motor shaft 23. By this construction and arrangement, the lower tubular shaft '7' is detachably connected to the motor drive shaft to thus facilitate the disassembly of the decorative device.

As will be seen in FIG. 2, the portion of the leads within the tubular section 22 is folded as at 39 to thereby provide an extra length of leads when it is necessary to clear a branch as described hereinabove.

One of the important features of the present invention is the provision of the electrical distributor block 2t (FIG. 2) on the upper tubular shaft 7. The block is provided with a plurality of sockets 4% having contacts 41 interconnected by electrical leads 42, each socket being adapted to receive a tubular plug member 4-3 having complementary contacts 44 thereon. Each of the tubular plug members has a pair of electrical leads positioned therein extending between .the contacts and an electric bulb 45.

Thus, with the device assembled, as shown in FIG. 2, the motor 24 drives the tubular shafts 7, '7 to thereby rotate the ornaments 4, and 6 carried by the block 2%, while at the same time, current is carried through the brushes 31, leads 39, contacts 41 and 44, leads 42 to energize the light bulbs 45 to thereby illuminate the ornaments 4-, 5 and 6 together with the disc 11.

There has been described and illustrated a device capable of performing all of the specifically mentioned objects in this invention as well as others which are apparent to those skilled in the art. Various uses of the present invention may be made employing the described structure. Accordingly, it is apparent that variations as to operation, size and shape, and rearrangement of elements may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, limitation is sought only in accordance with the scope of the following claims.

I claim: v

1. A decorative device adapted for attachment to the upper extremity of the trunk of a Christmas tree comprising a motor support means adapted for attachment to said Christmas tree, a motor secured to said support means, shaft means having one end thereof mounted in driving engagement with said motor whereby said shaft means is rotated upon activation of said motor, electrically conductive circuit means supported by said shaft, contact means connected to an electrical power source, said contact means being mounted upon said motor support cans and adapted to provide electrical current to said conductive circuit means, electrical distributor means secured to the opposite end of said shaft means remote from said motor support means, said electrical distributor means connected to receive power from said conductive circuit means, electrical illumination means secured to said distributor means, said electrical illumination means being positioned to direct illumination toward said motor support means, and a colored, light transmitting disc mounted upon said shaft means for movement along said shaft means between said housing and said distributor means, said disc including means to attach said disc to said tree whereby said disc may be positioned along said shaft means to receive light from said electrical illumination means.

2. The decorative device of claim 1 wherein said shaft means is removably coupled in driving engagement with said motor means whereby said shaft means, distributor means, and conductive circuit means may be manually disconnected from said motor.

3. The decorative device of claim 2 wherein said disc is a multicolor sectional disc, each section of said disc being of a color different from that of the remaining sections.

4. A decorative device adapted for attachment to the upper extremity of the trunk of a Christmas tree comprising a housing, clamping means secured to the exterior of said housing, said clamping means being operable to attach said housing to the trunk of a Christmas tree, a motor carried by said housing, a longitudinally extendable shaft means extending from said housing and mounted for rotation relative thereto, one end of said shaft means being in driving engagement with said motor whereby said shaft means is rotated upon activation of said motor, electrically conductive brush means mounted upon said housing, power supply means connected to said brush means and adapted to complete an electrical circuit between said brush means and an electrical power source, electrically conductive slip ring means secured to said shaft means and contacting said brush means, electrical distributor means secured to the opposite end of said shaft means remote from said housing, said electrical distributor means supporting a plurality of electrical outlet means positioned about the periphery of said distributor means, at least one of said outlet means being an electrical socket positioned on the underside of said distributor means, said electrical socket being adapted to receive an electrical illumination means, electrical conduit means connected to receive and transmit electrical current from said slip ring means, said electrical conduit means extending through said shaft means and said distributor means to said electrical outlet means, a plurality of ornaments formed from light transmitting material mounted upon said distributor means, said ornaments including an internal light source, circuit means connecting each such internal light source to an electrical outlet means on said distributor means, and a colored, light transmitting disc mounted upon said shaft means between said housing and said distributor means, said disc including clip means secured thereto and adapted to attach said disc to the tree whereby said disc may be positioned along said shaft means to receive light from said electrical illumination means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,216,819 2/1917 Krueger 240-81 1,707,171 3/1929 Moore 240-49 1,810,289 6/1931 Philips 240-10 X 1,957,763 5/1934 Dupler 240-101 2,097,061 10/ 1937 Graf 240-10 2,244,206 6/ 1941 Longley 240-101 2,27 9, 1 82 4/ 1942 Snyder 240-101 2,533,222 12/1950 Cohen 240-10 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DECORATIVE DEVICE ADAPTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE UPPER EXTREMITY OF THE TRUNK OF A CHRISTMAS TREE COMPRISING A MOTOR SUPPORT MEANS ADAPTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO SAID CHRISTMAS TREE, A MOTOR SECURED TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS, SHAFT MEANS HAVING ONE END THEREOF MOUNTED IN DRIVING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MOTOR WHEREBY SAID SHAFT MEANS IS ROTATED UPON ACTIVATION OF SAID MOTOR, ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE CIRCUIT MEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID SHAFT, CONTACT MEANS CONNECTED TO AN ELECTRICAL POWER SOURCE, SAID CONTACT MEANS BEING MOUNTED UPON SAID MOTOR SUPPORT MEANS AND ADAPTED TO PROVIDE ELECTRICAL CURRENT TO SAID CONDUCTIVE CIRCUIT MEANS, ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR MEANS SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID SHAFT MEANS REMOTE FROM SAID MOTOR SUPPORT MEANS, SAID ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE POWER FROM SAID CONDUCTIVE CIRCUIT MEANS, ELECTRICAL ILLUMINATION MEANS SECURED TO SAID DISTRIBUTOR MEANS, SAID ELECTRICAL ILLUMINATION MEANS BEING POSITIONED TO DIRECT ILLUMINATION TOWARD SAID MOTOR SUPPORT MEANS, AND A COLORED, LIGHT TRANSMITTING DISC MOUNTED UPON SAID SHAFT MEANS FOR MOVEMENT ALONG SAID SHAFT MEANS BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND SAID DISTRIBUTOR MEANS, SAID DISC INCLUDING MEANS TO ATTACH SAID DISC TO SAID TREE WHEREBY SAID DISC MAY BE POSITIONED ALONG SAID SHAFT MEANS TO RECEIVE LIGHT FROM SAID ELECTRICAL ILLUMINATION MEANS. 